Coin dispensers used for returning coins in change machines, gaming machines, vending machines, etc are already known.
Documents EP 1717762 B1, EP 1968018 A2, WO2004/114228 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,824 describe coin returning mechanisms based on a rotary disc in which the coins are transported to the exit as a result of the action of the rotary disc with a special geometry and a stop or trigger. Devices of this type are suitable for extracting different coins but with the limitation that the cavities must have a suitable geometry to extract the coin with larger diameter and/or thickness and that at the same time two thin coins and/or coins with small diameter cannot be extracted. This limitation means that this coin dispenser must be modified depending of the range of coins with larger and smaller desired diameter and/or thickness, in some cases the compatibility of coins with different diameters and/or thicknesses with the same extraction disc being impossible.
Document EP 1717762 B1 describes a system for extracting coins using a fixed and a movable stop or trigger. This system has the particularity that the distance between the fixed stop and movable trigger must be adjusted for each range of coins, different systems being necessary for each range of coins.
In the mechanism described in documents EP 1968018 A2 and WO 2004/114228 A1, the system for extracting coins uses a movable trigger formed by one or two parts and a fixed adjustable plate responsible for ejecting the coins. This system is less complex than other trigger systems but it still has ranges of coins limitations, defining a system having a movable trigger and an adjustment plate for different ranges of coins being necessary.
Document EP 0959437 B1 describes a coin dispenser based on a rotary disc as those described above in which two rotary discs overlap, the diameter of the accepted coins being able to be adjusted by means of mismatching one disc with respect to the other. This device behaves better with respect to the amount of discs used for extracting coins but it continues to have range limitations.
WO 2006/079803A describes a coin dispenser which has an outlet opening for the exit of coins and a coin dispensing mechanism comprising a rotary disc provided with cylindrical cavities for the coins, means for pushing the coin towards the outlet opening which means occupy the lower position in the cylindrical cavities and means for controlling the exit of the coins, one by one, through the outlet opening.
The means for pushing the coins towards the outlet opening consist of retractable stops which protrude from the bottom of the deposit in a fixed radial position, coinciding with the outlet opening, and block the circumferential trajectory of the cavities, pushing the coin occupying the lower position in the cavity facing the outlet opening towards said opening. The means for controlling the exit of the coins in turn consist of two retractable arched gates which are assembled in a position concentric with the rotary disc, in an inverted channel surrounding said disc coinciding with the outlet opening, said gates having an inclined lower profile. With the described constitution, the two retractable arched gates make up the means for controlling the exit of the coins from all the cavities, such that the operation problems of any of the gates could alter the operation of the entire dispenser.
On the other hand, the exit of the coins occurs only due to the push received by said coins from the retractable stop, where the coin may not reach the end of the outlet due to the friction of the coin along the exiting path, for example if the stop is retracted, or at least doing so at a minimum speed.
On the other hand, the limitation of coins with the smallest diameter allowed is established by the shape demarcated by the ribs of the lower face of the disc in each of the cavities, which may allow housing two coins the sum of the diameters of which slightly exceeds that of the cavities, causing the simultaneous exit of the two coins or a jam. This feature limits the range of allowed coin diameters.